2025-10-21
By Elizabeth Watson-Brown
MP for Ryan
Hi wonderful Greens family!
This year we faced setbacks electorally, and I’m saddened to have re-entered the lower house as the only Green. My resolve, however, has hardened: to be back in there after the 2028 election with a larger grouping of Greens to hold the major parties to account and to be a stronger voice for everyday people.
That work starts with continuing to grow our movement and connect with the community. So, as always the work of my team is grounded in the work in the electorate of Ryan.
Our community work has increasingly focused on forging deeper connections. Through sustained outreach and collaborative projects, we are trying to move beyond superficial interactions to build genuine relationships. This approach, we hope, will lead to a more resilient and interconnected community, where individuals feel a strong sense of belonging and mutual support.
This has been exemplified by our weekly community dinners in St Lucia, Kenmore and The Gap, and a host of other mutual aid projects. We are in a phase of working more directly with existing community groups, starting with establishing a Greens volunteer team to support the work of the many creek catchment groups across Ryan.
Our Family Fun Days have proven to be exceptionally engaging, fostering a vibrant sense of community among participants. These events consistently draw large numbers, with our Keperra event in April having close to 2000 people attend. It’s always amazing seeing families actively participating in a variety of games, activities, and shared meals. The positive feedback received highlights the success of these initiatives in strengthening bonds and creating memorable experiences for everyone involved. We have two more of these planned for later this year, which we hope will integrate more community groups and foster an even greater sense of collaboration and collective joy – showing that a different world is indeed possible.
We continue to put work into fighting for the community on the issue of excessive flight noise – a space where my local work intersects with my role as transport spokesperson for the Greens. This is now taking the form of opposing a completely reckless plan to expand Brisbane airport with a 70% increase in flights, resulting in a massive increase in emissions along with flight noise for tens of thousands of Brisbane residents.
Our advocacy extends to promoting the viable alternative of high-speed rail, which offers a sustainable and efficient solution to connectivity along Australia’s east coast while mitigating the environmental and noise impacts associated with air travel. We continue to engage with residents to amplify community concerns and push for policies that prioritize public well-being over unchecked development. My team and I have supported the work of our Senators on the Senate inquiry into flight noise, which concluded late last year, and a priority for my parliamentary work will be pushing for many of its recommendations to be adopted.
The airport expansion proposal, like many development proposals in Brisbane, is being justified by the apparent needs of the Brisbane 2032 Olympics. On the current trajectory Brisbane will get very little apart from unaffordable housing, unsustainable and unsuitable stadiums, and a flying taxi rink from the Olympics. With this in mind, my team and I are commencing some work on how to articulate a different vision for Brisbane coming out of the Olympics, one that delivers genuinely affordable housing, more green space, better public transport, and more resources for local sports. Watch this space!
I’m also immensely proud of the work my constituent advocacy team has done and continues to do. Over the last year, hundreds of locals in Ryan’s lives have been improved by the work of my office. Navigating the poorly designed, poorly funded, bureaucratic nightmares that are our social services can genuinely destroy people’s lives. That’s why our advocacy on NDIS, Centrelink, Immigration and a host of other issues is so vitally important.
In parliament I have always sought to reflect and represent the things that matter to locals in Ryan. Now that I have to represent all policy areas in the lower house, this has become even more the case.
I have been laser focussed on holding the Labor government accountable on the issues that really matter. The federal election was a firm rejection of Peter Dutton’s horrendous politics, but let’s not kid ourselves for a second that the Labor government is anything other than the political wing of the coal and gas sector along with the big banks and big property industry. My priorities are shining a light on the Labor party’s commitment to open up new coal and gas projects, showing how major corporations are getting a free ride by our government, and fighting for common sense solutions to people’s basic cost of living and housing stresses.
Ultimately, real power, real change, will come from us building our movement well beyond parliament. And for that work to succeed it’ll take all of us. See you out there in the community and in the streets!
- Libby